Bottom end stop for slide fasteners

ABSTRACT

A bottom end stop for slide fasteners is provided for restricting the movement of a slider at the bottom or lower part of the fastener. The bottom stop is constructed with a plurality of staple-like wire members extending transversely across the beaded edges of opposed stringer tapes of the fastener and spaced one from another in parallel by a distance great enough to permit a sewing needle to pass between the adjacent members.

24/205.11 L, 205.11 F, 205.1 R, 205 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,817,843 8/1931 POux 24/205.11 R

United States Patent [191 [111 3,909,887 Yoshida Oct. 7, 1975 [54] BOTTOM END STOP FOR SLIDE 2,472,743 6/1949 Carlile et al. 24/205.11 R FASTENERS 3,087,217 4/1963 Morin 24/205.l1 R [75] Inventor: Hiroshi Yoshida, Uozu, Japan FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 73 Assigneez Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha 1,292,430 4/1969 Germany 24/205.l1 R

Tokyo, Japan Primary ExaminerGeo. V. Larkin [22] Filed sept' 1974 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Bucknam and Archer [21] Appl. No.: 507,755

[57] ABSTRACT 30 F'Al't'P"tDt 1 orelgn pp ca Ion "on y a a A bottom end stop for slide fasteners is provided for Oct. 9, 1973 Japan 48-117829 restricting the movement of a slider at the bottom or lower part of the fastener. The bottom stop is con- [22] Structed with a plurality of Staple like Wire members i 4/205 1 extending transversely across the beaded edges of 0pposed stringer tapes of the fastener and spaced one from another in parallel by a distance great enough to permit a sewing needle to pass between the adjacent members.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures I t A Sheet 1 0f 2 Oct. 7,1975

BOTTOM END STOP FOR SLIDE FASTENERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to slide fasteners and more particularly to an improved end stop for use in restricting themovement of the slider thereof.

A slide fastener contemplated in the practice of the invention comprises a pair of oppositely disposed stringer tapes each carrying along their respective longitudinal edges a row of interlocking fastener elements and a slider arranged to move along the longitudinal edges of the stringer tapes to take the fastener elements into and out of engagement with one another thereby closing and opening the fastener. To restrict the movement of the slider at a predetermined point on the fastener, there are usually employed end stops anchored in place at a top and a bottom end region of the fastener. It is to the bottom end stop which the present invention relates.

There are known different types and forms of bottom end stops for preventing the slider from running off the rows of fastener elements. Such prior-art bottom end stops include metallic slugs, staples, plastic strips and the like which are mostly solidly formed. When sewing the fastener to a garment or the like therefore, the sewing stitches had to be discontinued at or bypassed around such bottom stops to avoid damage to the sewing needle. There are other types of bottom end stops known in the art which comprise a plurality of stop members arranged in a longitudinal row. These end stops, however, cannot preclude the necessity of bypassing the sewing needle around them because there is no sufficient space between the adjacent stop members for the thrust of the needle. The prior-art bottom stops have thus hindered continuous sewing operation and have imposed considerable burden on the operator to sew the fastener with such stops satisfactorily to an article. Another drawback of the prior-art bottom stops is that the areas of the stringer tapes at which the bottom stop is affixed are rendered objectionably stiff and that this will make an article look unsightly particularly where the article is curved or flexed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION With the above-noted drawback of the prior-art in view, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved bottom end stop for slide fasteners which is simple in construction and reliable in use.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a bottom end stop which is constructed with a plurality of staple-like wire members spaced one from another such that a sewing needle is freely admitted therebetween and further such that the members can readily yield to bending forces.

Briefly stated, the novel concept of the present invention resides in the provision ofa bottom end stop which comprises a plurality of transversely elongated staplelike wire members such as ofa metal or plastic material which are spaced one from another in parallel and longitudinally of a slide fastener by a distance sufficient to permit a sewing needle to enter into the space or gap between the adjacent members.

The features which are believed to be novel and characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims and will appear more apparent from the following description of some preferred embodiments taken in connection with the accompanying drawings inwhich like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan-view of a slide fastener to which a bottom end stop is attached according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the fas tener sewn onto an article;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation showing the bottom end stop of FIG. 1 applied to bent fastener stringers;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the bottom stop applied to curved stringer tapes of the fastener; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the bottom stop secured over and together with the fastener elements to the stringer tapes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED I EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings and FIG. 1 in particular, there is shown part of a slide fastener 10 which comprises a pair of oppositely disposed stringer tapes 11,12 each having carried along their respective longitudinal beaded edges a row of'interlocking fastener elements 13, the elements being secured in place by means of sewn stitches 14. The rows of fastener elements 13 on the respective tapes 11,12 are brought into and out of engagement with one another by a slider (not shown) as this is moved along the longitudinal edges of the tapes 11,12 in the well known manner.

Designated generally at 15 is a bottom end stop provided in accordance with the invention, which comprises a plurality of transversely elongated staple-like members 16 formed from a material such as for example a metal or plastic filament or the like. While the exact configuration of its cross section does not form a positive part of the invention and it may be for example round, semicircular or triangular, the staple-like stop members 16 each should preferably be provided with a rounded periphery so as to achieve the results hereafter described.

The staple-like stop members 16 are extended across the beaded edges of the stringer tapes 11,12 and connected thereto and thereby secured into position on the bottom or lower portion of the same which is devoid of fastener elements 13, the uppermost member 16' being situated immediately adjacent the endmost elements 13'. lmportantly, these elongated members 16 are spaced one from another substantially in parallel and longitudinally of the fastener 10 to provide a transversely extending gap 17 between adjacent members 16, which gap is sufficiently wide to admit a sewing needle (not shown) therein and thus permit the same to pass between the members 16 directly across the beaded edges of the opposed tapes 11,12. This offers the advantage that the path of a sewn seam 18 securing the fastener 10 to a garment 19 or the like can be continued from one stringer tape to another straight through any of the desired gaps 17 in the course of the sewing operation without having to be bypassed around the bottom stop 15, as clearly shown in FIG. 2. This will greatly speed up the sewing operation.

Each staple-like stop member 16 preferably has a rounded periphery such that in the event the sewing needle fails to register precisely with the gap 17 and contacts the stop member or members 16, the needle may slip down the rounded periphery, instead of get ting damaged, and may be guided into the gap 17.

Another advantage accruing from the provision of the spaced stop members 16 according to the invention is that they can retain the flexibility of the areas of the tapes at which they are affixed and can thus allow the said areas to yield to bending or flexing stresses as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. Therefore, the bottom stop 15 according to the invention can be advantageously applied to slide fasteners used on articles having curved or flexed surfaces such as boots, bags and the like.

While the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular is directed to the provision of a bottom stop 15 at the bottom part of the fastener which is free of fastener elements 13, the bottom stop of this characteristic can be alternatively applied over some of the coupled fastener elements 13 at the bottom part of the fastener 10 in the manner illustrated in FIG. 5.

What is claimed is:

1. In a slide fastener comprising a pair of oppositely disposed stringer tapes carrying along their respective inner longitudinal edges rows of interlocking fastener elements, a slider reciprocally movable along said edges to take the rows of fastener elements into and out of interlocking engagement with one another, and a bottom end stop secured to the lower portion of the stringer tapes for limiting the movement of the slider at the bottom end of the fastener, the improvement wherein said bottom end stop comprises a plurality of transversely elongated staple-like stop members extended across the beaded edges of the stringer tapes and connected thereto and thereby secured in positions on the lower portion of the stringer tapes, said stop members being spaced apart one from another substantially in parallel and longitudinally of the fastener to provide a gap between adjacent stop members, said gap being wide enough to admit therein a sewing needle.

2. A bottom end stop as defined in claim 1 wherein said staple-like stop members extend across the beadedtape edges which are devoid of fastener elements.

3. A bottom end stop as defined in claim 1 wherein said staple-like stop members extend over some of the coupled fastener elements mounted on the beaded tape edges. 

1. In a slide fastener comprising a pair of oppositely disposed stringer tapes carrying along their respective inner longitudinal edges rows of interlocking fastener elements, a slider reciprocally movable along said edges to take the rows of fastener elements into and out of interlocking engagement with one another, and a bottom end stop secured to the lower portion of the stringer tapes for limiting the movement of the slider at the bottom end of the fastener, the improvement wherein said bottom end stop comprises a plurality of transversely elongated staple-like stop members extended across the beaded edges of the stringer tapes and connected thereto and thereby secured in positions on the lower portion of the stringer tapes, said stop members being spaced apart one from another substantially in parallel and longitudinally of the fastener to provide a gap between adjacent stop members, said gap being wide enough to admit therein a sewing needle.
 2. A bottom end stop as defined in claim 1 wherein said staple-like stop members extend across the beaded tape edges which are devoid of fastener elements.
 3. A bottom end stop as defined in claim 1 wherein said staple-like stop members extend over some of the coupled fastener elements mounted on the beaded tape edges. 